Former Union minister and BJP leader RK Singh appeared to have struck a nerve on Sunday when he urged the people of Bihar not to vote for the party’s key candidate, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.
In a social media post, Singh advised people to shun candidates with a criminal record, "even if they belong to your caste."
He also urged people to opt for NOTA "if none of those in the fray is without a taint."
Among the NDA candidates whom he mentioned by name were Choudhary (Tarapur) and gangster-turned-politician Anant Singh, the JD(U) candidate from Mokama.
Singh, who has been in political wilderness since losing the Arrah seat in the Lok Sabha polls last year, also named JD(U) candidates from Jagdishpur and Sandesh, both falling under the parliamentary constituency he failed to retain for a third consecutive term.
Singh also named RJD candidates Deepu Singh (Arrah) and Osama Shahab (Raghunathpur), whose fathers were involved in serious cases of crime.
He spelt out details of the criminal cases that cast a shadow on the profile of the candidates.
Singh was earlier excluded from the BJP's 45-member election campaign committee as well as the election manifesto committee after he asked several party leaders, including Choudhary, Dilip Jaiswal, Mangal Pandey and Sanjay Jaiswal, to respond to corruption allegations raised by Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor.
A retired IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, Singh is a former Union home secretary.
He was the power minister in the second Narendra Modi government.
(With inputs from PTI)